London’s Bakerloo Tube line is finally getting an extension

The Bakerloo Line will stretch further south of the Thames (Picture: In Pictures via Getty Images)

John Healey today announced new devolved powers to mayors which will allow the Bakerloo line to finally be extended.

The new plans allow Sadiq Khan and other mayors to retain a share of business rates and income tax receipts locally to fund infrastructure.

In the capital, this will free up cash to extend the historic Tube line and expand Euston station.

Mr Khan has long wanted to extend the Bakerloo line beyond Elephant and Castle to Lewisham, creating greater transport links south of the river – which is famously less well-served by the capital’s trains.

He hailed the new plans a ‘devolution revolution’. 

The plans will see new stations created at Burgess Park and Old Kent Road, plus a stop at the existing New Cross Gate.

The plans were announced in John Healey’s budget today (Picture: Reuters)

In addition to the longer Tube line, the devolution will allow for the creation of four new London Overground stations between Hounslow and Hendon, under the West London Orbital project.

He said: ‘By giving London the ability to keep more of the money we raise, we can invest billions of pounds more in our future, helping to finally unlock transformational infrastructure projects such as the West London Orbital, the Bakerloo Line Extension and the Euston knowledge quarter project, supporting tens of thousands of new homes, jobs and economic growth.

‘Proper devolution is something I have been calling for years, and this government gets the scale of the ambition needed where previous governments have failed.’

Stratford International will be transformed into global hub (Picture: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The funding will also help make Stratford International a global hub, bringing cross-channel rail services to the station – something Khan has lobbied for for years. 

The expansion to Euston station, set to cost £50,000,000 to run HS2 through it, had been uncertain due to funding until these new powers were announced.

For now, 20% of business rate revenues will go to mayors, while the Chancellor pledged 100% of the rate will stay local by the end of the decade. From 2028, a share of income tax receipts will go to mayors as well.

Alongside the powers to introduce an Overnight Visitor Levy from 2028, the Healey said: ‘Taken together, these are long-term funding streams they can use to back investment into big local infrastructure.

‘So, that more of the money that is raised locally, can be spent locally, on projects like the Trent Sports District, led by the Mayor of the East Midlands, and the Bakerloo line extension led by the Mayor of London.’

The devolution strategy was dubbed the ‘biggest transfer of power out of Whitehall in a generation’ by Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Comments Add as preferred source